Compensatory mechanism may help solve water problem in Central Asia

​Water problems in Central Asia can be solved in several ways,
including the creation of a compensation mechanism for cooperation in
the field of using water and energy resources in the region, Russian
expert on Central Asia Leonid Gusev said.

"It is possible to create a compensation mechanism cooperatively when
using water and energy resources in the region," senior fellow at the
Institute of International Studies at the Russian Foreign Ministry's
Moscow State Institute of the International Relations Leonid Gusev told
Trend today. "This can be a more profitable scenario than the policy of
ensuring energy and water self-sufficiency of each country."

He added that it is advisable to form such a mechanism within the
Eurasian Economic Community (EurAsEC), by inviting Turkmenistan which is
not a part of the community for cooperation.

He stressed that Russia as a disinterested party may serve here as a
negotiator and as a source of loan and investment resources to implement
the priority projects.
The water problem in the region is unlikely to lead to an armed conflict, Gusev said.

"No matter how strong the confrontation between the Central Asian
countries might be on this issue, their leaders understand that such
events could cause a collapse in the region. Then radical extremist
groups would immediately take advantage of this and the situation may
become aggravated everywhere."

He added that all the countries in the region suffer economic damage from the unresolved problem with water use.

According to the UN Development Programme, the unresolved problems
with exploitation of water resources in Central Asia annually create
losses worth $1.7 billion due to mismanagement of water resources.